A Changi Airport ground staff member for China Southern Airlines has been suspended from duty after a video capturing a heated argument between the two men went viral. Chinese media reports stated that the traveller, surnamed Yuan, was checking in at Changi Airport for his flight to Chongqing in China last Tuesday and asked for a change of seat from the ground staff member at the counter.
The employee purportedly verbally abused Mr. Yuan by calling him a “dog” in English, Mandarin, and the Chinese dialect of Cantonese. The airline has issued a statement to clarify the situation and publicly apologised to the passenger. China Southern Airlines Singapore released a statement on its official WeChat channel revealing that the staff member involved was an employee of a ground service agent contracted by the airline.
The incident has sparked debates on social media platforms, with some believing the passenger had done something to elicit such an aggressive reaction from the employee. Others argue that the staff member's conduct was unacceptable, regardless of what Mr. Yuan might have done.
The incident comes on the heels of a controversy involving Cathay Pacific staff members who were accused of mocking the English language proficiency of passengers from mainland China.
